
E-text prepared by Roger Frank
CHAPTER I—RANCHER WITHAM
CHAPTER II—LANCE COURTHORNE
CHAPTER III—TROOPER SHANNON’S QUARREL
CHAPTER IV—IN THE BLUFF
CHAPTER V—MISS BARRINGTON COMES HOME
CHAPTER VI—ANTICIPATIONS
CHAPTER VII—WITHAM’S DECISION
CHAPTER VIII—WITHAM COMES TO SILVERDALE
CHAPTER IX—AN ARMISTICE
In a wind‑bitten prairie settlement where frost clings to the sod and the night sky offers no stars, rancher Witham trudges through the cold toward the lone wooden hotel. He’s come for a handful of letters that could change his fortunes, but the isolation of the outpost makes every encounter feel weighty. Inside the warm, stove‑lit room, the hotel keeper’s daughter greets him with a familiar smile, expecting someone else entirely.
Mistaken for the dashing Lance Courthorne, Witha m’s plain appearance and steady gray eyes set off a quiet tension. The girl’s teasing remark about a missing “stamp” hints at a deeper deception, while Witham’s quiet pride and weary demeanor suggest he’s not easily swayed. As the first night of his stay unfolds, listeners are drawn into a world of rugged frontier life, secret identities, and the uneasy question of who truly belongs in this lonely stretch of Canada.
Language
en
Duration
~8 hours (512K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Release date
2012-05-14
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1866–1945
Best known for vivid adventure stories set in western Canada, this English novelist drew on years spent at sea and in the colonies to give his fiction a strong sense of place. His books became popular for their frontier settings, practical detail, and steady, readable storytelling.
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